Jan 18

Jan 18 A Week of Looks: Maatkara Wilson

A Week of Looks’ aim, at its creation, was to provide deeper insight into the daily fashion choices of people with eye-catching and thought-provoking personal style. In this fourth installment, Maatkara Wilson, a current second year at the college, breaks down her style and where she draws inspiration from. Here’s a little more about Maatkara:

My name is Maatkara and I am a second year at the college. I’m a Global Studies major and interested in International Relations and Digital Media aesthetics, so I might be coding social media bots sometime soon, who knows. I grew up in various cities in the US and abroad, but my current home base is Shanghai.

I‘ve worked in social media marketing and other things, but I am now a professional Bookshelver. On campus, I’m a member of Off-Off Campus, an improv comedy organization, and hope to get involved in like a podcast or something - it’s a great medium for information dissemination. I’m interested in all things, from surrealist propaganda to puka shell necklaces, and I use my work, fashion and media to express this as much as possible.

Is there anything in fashion that scares you?

Fashion, to me, is defined by shapes and fabrics that are meant to be dependent and reliant on your emotions and confidence, so I think I’m mostly afraid of the insecurities I may feel and how they could potentially manifest through my clothing. So, with fashion itself, nothing really scares me and I look forward to developments and trends, but with myself, absolutely.

How can an outfit dictate your mood?

If a piece doesn’t drape nicely on the silhouette I have going on that day, I’ll get finicky with it, and when that happens, I focus too much on the physical clothes, how they fit, what’s being unflatteringly highlighted, how it SHOULD look, etc. This kind of sends me into a neurotic tailspin, but it’s a journey, and I feel myself growing with each negative emotion and bad mood (I think).

How do your style choices change from day to day?

One time my friend told me he doesn’t always recognize me because I don’t wear the same outfit many times, so there’s that. I definitely do wear one outfit many times, but I always mix and match to keep things funky. I have trouble with monotony and planning, so my clothes must be a visual manifestation of that mellow chaos.

Monday

What was your inspiration for that days fit?

I’m not particularly sure I had a direct, like, tangible inspiration for this fit, but I think subconsciously the sweater/slacks combo came from “Femme Lawyer Casual Friday at Downtown City Firm” vibe, but she has a quirky date after work. Also, I love interesting ABAB patterns, so I played with the levels of the brown and yellow, both with my clothes and on my skin. I guess with the white as well, funny.

What are you wearing?

In this, I am wearing a yellow button down cardigan with brown slacks, a brown suede trench coat and Doc Martens platform oxfords. For accessories, I have pearl C shaped earrings, a silver and diamond necklace, a friend’s gold signet ring with a square of malachite in the middle (might need a fact check), and white socks.

Tuesday

What was your inspiration for that days fit?

I like teal and brown together, but I had no brown bottoms available and acceptable for use, so I grabbed a cute lil black nightdress for the base. I added this scarf because I couldn’t find my big fluffy one, and I wanted to keep my neck warm. I do not think this adds to the outfit, but my choice has been made, and, you know what, I will stand by it. No other special accessory choices, unless you count the strategically placed White Sock At Top of Boot Peek, which I definitely think is legitimate. I love the White Sock At Top of Boot Peek, and I think everyone should try it.

What are you wearing?

I am wearing a really awesome sweater whose pattern I can only describe (“incorrectly,” says the fashion student) as Osmosis Jones’ guts. Yeah, and a black slip dress, a thrifted brown suede thigh-length coat, white socks, black Doc Martens and a sequined blue infinity (no longer) scarf.

Wednesday

What was your inspiration for that days fit?

Remember what I was saying about ABAB patterns? I did it again, I fear. I suppose now it’s ABCABC because there are three colors - red, black, and cream. When I dress, I mostly think about patterns and shape, so if my pants are long, I like making my coat long, that kind of thing. I also love round edges, so the beanie I was wearing made my head amazingly round and is kind of imitated by the round bit at the top of my Converse(s?). I just realized this, looking more closely, that the red and black stripes on my sweater are kind of imitated by the red and black panels on my shoes. The subconscious mind, what a thing indeed.

What are you wearing?

Everything from the neck to the ankle is either thrifted or from my Mommy’s closet. I’ve got on a red and black striped button-down sweater, some black pinstripe slacks, a brown trench coat, some red and black paneled 70s style Converse sneakers and a cream Zara beanie. Fun!

Thursday

What was your inspiration for that days fit?

I was mostly worried about how cold my torso and arms were going to be due to the little premature coldfront we recently had, so I tried some layering with a turtleneck and some shirts that don’t fit me as nicely as they could alone. I really loved the butterfly decal featuring through the straps of the little jersey peplum shirt, so I just left it at that. Weather also affects my mood majorly, so the rest of the fit was like a disjointed combination of blues and blacks because I associate those colors with frigidity and, like, a biting cold, which that day was.

What are you wearing?

I am wearing my Mommy’s grey turtleneck, a thrifted pale pink top with butterfly decals and rhinestones with a black deep-V peplum on top, and a blue Uniqlo coat over it all. I’m also wearing some black pink-pinstriped flare pants with these UNIF boots I bought on Depop. On my neck, I am donning a sequined blue infinity (no longer) scarf (consistency).

Friday

What was your inspiration for that days fit?

To be completely honest, I was really pulling something out of thin air with this one because I still question my decisions. What I love, though, is that I focused on a specific blue outline on one of the patterns on my vest, which ended up working nicely with the blue hue of my dress. I ended up kind of reconciling the red and the blue on my sweater and dress with the red on my cowboy boots - coolness of the red = brightness of red on sweater and coolness of blue on dress. Style Math…?